This arrogance leads him to becoming slightly obsessed with retaining his pride and not letting anyone slight his bravado. To uphold his name and pride, he mauls his opponents without remorse, heroically takes on the river Xanthus, and even sacrifices twelve Trojan men at Patrocius’ funeral (Cook, 57). Though finally in the final chapter, Achilles shows his remorseful side when he’s reminded of his father when Priam asks for Hector’s defiled body back (Cook, 48). Achilles encompasses many traits immanent in the culture of his time period, mostly of honor and glory for his name, but he also relinquishes those traits with a forgiving side of remorse and grief, even though it usually ends in intense anguish. On the contrary, Hamlet embraces several of these characteristics in the form of a very different character.
What qualities does an epic hero have that the average person may lack? In The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is poised under pressure, brave, and intelligent but can sometimes rush through his plans and not think them through all the way. A modern day hero that I can compare to Odysseus would be Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, the only Medal of Honor winner to survive the actions that earned him the reward since the Vietnam War. Sgt.
In the story of the Aeneid by Virgil we see the continuation of the Iliad by Homer through the eyes of a Trojan warrior. Each of these stories focus around a particular warrior and their journey to becoming great heroes. While these two stories are similar because of this, the heroes depicted vary in many ways. The types of heroes that we see in these stories are unlike in the fact the qualities required by the hero in each story are different. The easiest difference between the heroes is that Homer's hero, Achilles, is a self-centered warrior, while Virgil's hero, Aeneas, is obedient warrior.
. .”(18. 150-157). This can be seen as Odysseus stating that a man is only powerful when the Gods are on his side; the only way he made it through this journey was by “steeling” his heart, and keeping his faith in the Gods. In conclusion, in Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, we see the roles that gods and fate play in the lives of mortals.
Mentioning that Hektor yields to neither “god nor man” (9.239), Odysseus is able to present the situation as an opportunity for great honor and glory. This appeal to Achilles' honor continues throughout the speech. Odysseus continues by requesting that Achilles “rescue the afflicted sons of the Achaians from the Trojan onslaught” (9.247-248). He adds that “it will be an affliction to [Achilles] hereafter, [and that] there will be no remedy found to heal the evil thing when it has been done” (9.249-250). This proves to be a very cleverly constructed appeal by Odysseus.
Another similarity is that they are great warriors and the result from their defeats gives them a divine impact which makes them very influential people. To some degree Hercules is faced with the morality, for the death of his family. For Hercules he is commanded by Apollo to do certain tasks as a punishment for his sins, so that his spirit might be cleansed from evil. It is then that Hercules begun to complete his 12 Labors. Although Hercules completes the 12 Labors he continues to do many more adventures.
The Odyssey In the epic poem, The Odyssey, by the Greek poet Homer, the main character, Odysseus, shows signs of heroism. The poem tells the story of Odysseus, a war hero from Ithaca and his journey to redress himself. Throughout the story, Odysseus proves himself to be the hero through his masterful skills, breathtaking strength, and quick thinking. To finally redress himself, he needed wisdom from several of gods. However, Odysseus has good traits that an epic hero has, but he also have bad traits too, such as, being overconfident and angering gods.
In ancient Greece, a hero was described as a person who would fight hard and die hard. Many people would describe Odysseus as a selfish and cocky person who didn’t really care about his crew and what they have gone through to help him. Though in my opinion, Odysseus and his men are all heroes because they all are fighting their hardest. Odysseus starts out with his act of heroism when he is fighting on troy with all of his men. Odysseus had a plan to get in and get out.
At the heart of our obsession with comfort lies the mortal need to minimize pain. However, in our quest to rid ourselves of pain are we not defying our own humanity? Our intellect is a product of centuries of suffering. The greatest works of art that the world has ever seen, and will see, are inspired by pain. This is reflected in Homer’s timeless epic, The Odyssey.
Achilles flaw that is that he is revengeful and full of wrath. Hector is noble, but his flaw is that he is proud. In Virgil’s Aeneid, Aeneas is the epic hero in this poem. He is a fearless warrior and a great leader to his men. Aeneas has many characteristics that were highly valued by the Romans during this time period.